NEW STEEL PROCESS.

Patea Mail, 20 September 1882, Page 4

NEW STEEL PROCESS.

■lt was reported, some time ago that an invention of great importance to the iron trade of this country had been introduced in the shape of the Thomas-Gilchrist, or basic, process of converting the ores directly into superior brands of metal, and for working up the commoner brands of pig into excellent merchantable steel. A number of experiments have been recently made at Wednesbury. Charges of 3-J tons of cinder pig, containing 3 per cent, phosphorous, were blown and, samples of the steel procured submitted to a variety of tests. At a meeting subsequently hold all present testified to the very high quality’ of the metal produced. Amongst the samples shown were some rolled into plates and bent close cold four successive times without a crack. Mr. Hingley,the chairman of the Ironmasters’ Association; Mv. Wales, the manager of the Patent Nhaft and Axle Tree Company’s Works (by whose courtesy the trials have been carried out), and other gentlemen, expressed their perfect satisfaction with the results obtained. The experiments were carried out under the superintendence of Mr. Gilchrist, and were specially intended to show that not only could ordinary Bessemer steel be produced, but a special soft metal of great ductility and readily weldable, well suited to replace the highest class of puddled iron for sheets, tin plates, wire chains, cables, &c. It is estimated that the cost of soft steel ingots* made by this process in Staffordshire, would be about 70s. a ton. It is probable that arrangements will be made for immediately carrying out the new process on a large scale in Staffordshire.